perch2

noun (plural same or perches)

• an edible freshwater fish with a high spiny dorsal fin, dark vertical bars on the body, and orange lower fins.

  • Genus Perca, family Percidae (the perch family): three species, in particular P. fluviatilis of Europe (also called bass²), and the almost identical yellow perch (P. flavescens) of North America. The perch family also includes the pikeperches, ruffe, and darters
• used in names of other freshwater and marine fishes resembling or related to the perch, e.g. climbing perch, pikeperch, sea perch, surfperch.